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Introduction

The objective of this Handbook is to provide a reference point for biodiversity conservation programmes in Africa. The book is formulated around the main
biodiversity conventions of relevance to Africa. This design is based on the recognition that the overwhelmingnational and international concern to conserve and sustainably utilise biological diversity, has taken ex-pression in well designed, and largely comprehensive treaty law. It is desirable that the African continent, with its wealth of biodiversity that is rapidly declining on account of human activity, should put in place arrangements for conservation incorporating the vital elements of such treaty law.

Implementing biodiversity conventions in Africa has both benefits and burdens. On the benefits side, the principles embedded in these conventions today carry some of the most enlightened ideas for the sustain-able utilisation of environmental resources and, consequently, offer the best approach to the conservation of Africa's biodiversity. Besides, some of the global con-ventions have provided a framework for technological and financial assistance to developing countries involved in environmental protection.

It is to be noted in this regard, that the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)(1992) provides (Art.25) for the establishment of a Subsidiary Body on Scientific,Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA). This body is open to all Parties, and is required to provide scientific and technical assessments on the status of biodiversity, and to give advice on scientific programmes and on matters pertaining to international co-operation in research and development. In similar terms a Committee on Science and Technology is established under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (CCD)(1994)(Art.24). The CCD also provides that Parties shall "extend technology cooperation to affected developing country Parties, including, where relevant, joint ventures" (Art.18.1). Similarly, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) (1979) has established a Scientific Council and both CMS and the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasion Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) (1995) (adopted under the aegis of CMS) call
for assistance for certain countries.

Another example of benefits attached to the implementation of the biodiversity conventions is with regard to financial matters. The CBD, for instance, provides
(Art.21) for "a mechanism for the provision of financial resources to developing country Parties for pur-poses of this Convention on a grant or concessional basis". The relevant mechanism is currently the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which has been facilitating the provision of financial assistance in appropriate cases to Parties. This mechanism serves the same purpose also for the CCD, under which developed coun-try Parties have undertaken to "mobilise substantial financial resources, including grants and concessional loans, in order to support implementation of pro-grammes to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought" (Art.20.2).

The biodiversity-related conventions also carry obligations for States Parties. The Parties are expected to make appropriate legal and institutional adjustments to enable them to implement and enforce the provisions of the conventions. This obligation requires political commitment to biodiversity conservation, on the part of African governments. They need to adopt policies favourable to biodiversity conservation, and to commit financial resources for the establishment of programmes and machinery for implementation.
This Handbook, apart from identifying critical elements in the treaty law for domestic application, provides indications on approaches to be taken by the domestic law, in endeavouring to implement the conventions.

A major justification for the Handbook is that it will serve as a facility/mechanism for the adoption of common practices among African states. Although the treaty law speaks in the same terms for all States Parties, each one has full freedom in the formulation of the scheme of domestic legislation; and in consequence there is a real possibility of the existence of wide variations in national schemes of policy, law and administration for biodiversity conservation. The Handbook, by proposing approaches to implementation, will help to create a measure of uniformity in State-Party understanding and mode of implementation of international environmental law.

At an earlier stage during consultations on the idea of a handbook, there were suggestions that the book's limitation to Africa might lead to a duplication of other
more widely-based projects that were on the drawing board. However, greater weight of opinion supported the project. One reason for this was that, Africa has a
considerable number of regional environmental interests focussed on biodiversity; and these called for a regional approach to the implementation of treaty law.
Besides, national authorities would be somewhat hesitant to employ treaty implementation guidelines that failed to address their particular regional or sub-regional characteristics and concerns. These authorities bear political mandates whose most immediate objectives are problems of local or regional character. It should be noted also that, Conferences of the Parties to the CBD have commended regional initiatives as a constructive approach to biodiversity conservation.

It is now well recognised that biodiversity is in the first place, and with regard to each and every country, a national endowment in respect of which national sovereignty applies. African countries thus enjoy sovereignty over their biodiversity, and they bear the primary obligation to ensure its sustainable utilisation.
It thus made good sense to prepare a guidebook that focussed on specific, regionally-based clusters of issues.

The determination of the specific conventions to be covered, and the extent of coverage to be given, had to be done judiciously. Out of the present multilateral environmental conventions, which exceed two hundred in number, the bulk deal with biological diversity, in one way or another. All such conventions may be placed in four categories. The first category includes the core global biological diversity conventions. The second category includes core biological diversity conventions of a regional or sub-regional character. In the third category are core biological diversity conventions of a transcontinental kind involving African "range states". The fourth category includes those conventions that are not, in their essential structure, biological diversity conventions in the most direct sense, but they relate to bio-logical diversity either indirectly, or carry quite important provisions on the conservation of one or more types of biological diversity. Such a cat-egorisation of biological diversity conventions is set out diagrammatically in Fig.0.1.

While the first category of conventions provides the model scheme for the conservation of biological diversity, their requirements and standards are well reflected in a good number of the conventions in the remaining categories. The Handbook, thus, while according the greatest emphasis to the core global biodiversity con-ventions, also identifies the more remarkable ones in the other categories, that are likely to provide the best lessons for African countries, in their conservation initiatives.